Port City school officials tackle truancy

PORTSMOUTH — In the absence of assistance previously provided by the Children in Need of Services law, school administrators have turned to some "old-school" strategies to address excessive truancy, including visiting students and parents at home, Portsmouth High School Principal Jeff Collins said.

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By Joey Cresta

seacoastonline.com

By Joey Cresta

Posted Jan. 23, 2013 at 2:00 AM

By Joey Cresta

Posted Jan. 23, 2013 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

PORTSMOUTH — In the absence of assistance previously provided by the Children in Need of Services law, school administrators have turned to some "old-school" strategies to address excessive truancy, including visiting students and parents at home, Portsmouth High School Principal Jeff Collins said.

"We had a system that worked extremely well ... but we've lost that piece," Collins told the School Board on Tuesday night. "We're making home visits once again."

The system that officials say worked was the CHINS law, which state legislators changed a year ago. Previously, students who were habitually truant could be referred to a judge through a CHINS petition. Collins told the School Board it was an effective tool to help the high school keep troubled students on the right path.

Lawmakers changed the law in an effort to save some $7 million. Now, the CHINS law only refers to the most dangerous children with severe emotional, cognitive or other mental health issues.

The board held a workshop on the issue of habitual truancy in an effort to get a better grasp on the situation in Portsmouth. According to School Department figures, the number of excessively truant students, defined as missing 18 or more days of school in a year, has risen at all three grade levels since the CHINS law changed.

Superintendent Ed McDonough said that excessive absences are recorded for any reason, including family vacations and extended illnesses. Numbers from the middle school, for example, show that while 52 children were excessively absent, more than half of them were academically successful.

Those students who are missing school for other reasons, such as unexcused absences, are monitored and focused on if it becomes a problem, administrators said. McDonough and Collins both indicated conversations involving guidance counselors, assistant principals and school principals happen early on in the process.

Board members discussed the importance of watching the issue at all grade levels, and not just in high school. Board Chairwoman Leslie Stevens suggested the school resource officer at the elementary schools proposed in this year's budget could nip some problems in the bud.

"This truancy issue at the elementary age is starting the process of dropping out of school. That's what's going on here," McDonough said.

Stevens noted that, at the elementary level in particular, truancy is a family problem. Collins said administrators have discussed ways of attacking the issue outside of the school walls by building partnerships in the community.

Those partnerships are with, among others, the Police Department and Portsmouth Housing Authority, McDonough said.

Once again, the issue arose of instituting an ordinance in Portsmouth that would give officials some more teeth to enforce school attendance. Some communities in the region have ordinances allowing police to levy fines if a student is absent too often. But McDonough said he favors a "carrot" over a "stick" approach.

"I don't know about an ordinance, quite frankly, and to what extent the police want to engage in that process," he said.

Board members discussed instituting a SMART goal to keep the district focused on the issue of truancy. SMART goals are "specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-based" goals that are set within the district.

"I don't think there's a huge problem," said board member Dexter Legg, adding that a SMART goal could keep the matter in the spotlight, so that it does not "get out of control."

"It's going to be a hard battle with CHINS gone," said board member Kent LaPage.